Q. In the summer of 2012 I took out a reverse mortgage, thinking it would help relieve some financial pressures. I was not happy that the deed was written out only to me, while it should have been me and my daughter. Then when Sandy struck, the reverse mortgage company kept holding up the repair funds due to "Insufficient/Incorrect Endorsement" on the checks. The taxes and upkeep costs keep rising, and my daughter thinks we should sell and go to a rental. I’d prefer a smaller home. My income is $2,500 a month and my daughter is now out of work. Could I get a conventional mortgage or am I stuck here until I expire?

— Stuck in Mt. Olive

A. It’s time for you to find some specialists to explain a few items to you and how they pertain to your situation.

For starters, if your daughter is younger than 62, she couldn’t be part of your reverse mortgage.

"Generally for a reverse mortgage to be done, the youngest person has to be at least 62 years old," said Jerry Lynch, a certified financial planner with JFL Total Wealth Management in Fairfield. "In addition, the amount that they give you is based upon several factors, one of which is how young the youngest person is — the older you are, the more money they will give you."

Lynch said it sounds like you always owned the home and that your daughter just lives with you. If that is the case, if anything happens to you, then the note — the reverse mortgage — is payable in full based upon how much money is outstanding

On your problems with Sandy damage, delays on insurance payouts were common, and Lynch said it happened on his home, too.

"With bigger claims, the mortgage company needs to endorse the check and generally the checks are made out to you and the mortgage company," he said. "This is to make sure that the repairs are done on the home."

Lynch said he’s never been a big fan of reverse mortgages because they’re tough for the bank to underwrite.

"When banks issue the loan, if the money is used up, and you could never afford the property to begin with — taxes, maintenance, insurance, etc. — over time you are still going to lose the house as the bank will have to foreclose if you cannot pay the taxes and maintain the property," he said.

It’s simply that if you spend the money the banks give you and you cannot pay the taxes, they have to foreclose. It’s a hard nut to swallow, but if you couldn’t afford the taxes and maintenance, you should have never been in that property to begin with, Lynch said.

As for a conventional mortgage, it’s possible, but Lynch said he doesn’t think it would work.

"If you cannot pay the expenses right now — and you do not have to pay back a reverse mortgage when you are alive — what makes you feel that taking out a mortgage that you have to pay will make things better?" he said.

People are required to get financial counseling prior to getting a reverse mortgage, he said, while other people are "looking for a miracle fix and think that this is it.

"A reverse mortgage is an excellent financial tool that works in the right situation," he said. "This does not seem like the right situation."

We know this isn’t what you wanted to hear, but you may be better off with a much smaller home or a rental.